


Welcome to Paradise

by LuthienLuinwe



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Green Arrow (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Abusive Bruce Wayne, Addiction, Bruce Wayne Is a Terrible Person, Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Foster Care, Gen, Hurt / Comfort, NO CAPES, Oliver Queen is a good dad, Past Child Abuse, Past Drug Use, Past Sexual Assault, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Recovery, teen parenthood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-07-14 22:28:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16049849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuthienLuinwe/pseuds/LuthienLuinwe
Summary: The call came at two in the afternoon.Oliver Queen knew he wanted to be a foster father. But when life hands him six kids from an abusive home, he may be in for more than he thought he could handle. It becomes his mission in life to recuperate them and show them he cares. But some things are easier said than done.





	1. Welcome to Paradise

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much to Discord, and especially to my friend Kon, for helping me bounce ideas around for this story!
> 
> There are MANY potential triggers in this fic, including, but not limited to child abuse (physical, mental, and sexual), post-traumatic stress disorder, and drug addiction recovery. If you have any concerns over a potential trigger, please contact me [here](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/luthienluinwe) and I will provide you with appropriate spoilers.

**Ollie**

The call came at two in the afternoon. Roy had come home early from work and was sat playing with Lian, who couldn’t have looked happier. Connor and Mia were still in school, and Ollie was relieved the school hadn't called with yet another back talk problem. Like he had any room to lecture them for back talking someone.  _ Oliver would be such a joy to have in class if he would learn to be quiet,  _ his teacher had told his parents once.

“Hello?” he asked, hitting the ‘Answer’ button without bothering to see who was calling him. He hoped it wasn’t the office. They knew better than to call on his day off. 

He could hear Roy playing with Lian in the background, her cute little laugh filling the room, a perfect harmony to Roy’s deeper one. 

They were good kids.

All of them were.

“Hey Ollie,” a familiar voice came over the phone. Guy Gardner, the social worker who had brought Roy and Mia to him. Great. If he was calling, that meant he had a kid he needed someone to take care of. Not that Ollie minded too much. He’d gotten his license to foster for a reason after all. “Got a minute?”

“For you?” Ollie asked and leaned against the counter, watching as Roy picked Lian up, a broad smile on the redhead’s face. Ollie never would have imagined Roy could be so happy. He’d been so lost and confused when Guy had dropped Roy off at the door. “I got two.”

“Got a handful of kids,” Guy said, and Ollie frowned at that. That never meant anything good. And he’d never gotten more than one at a time. “Foster father was a piece of shit who beat on ‘em.” 

“How many?”

“Four. Two boys and two girls. We would’ve separated ‘em but one of the girls is dependant on the oldest”

“Christ, Guy,” Ollie breathed. Surely he must have misheard that. And their foster father was the one beating on them? Those were the worst cases, the ones that made his stomach churn and kept him up at night. And there were  _ four  _ of them? “How old?”

“Seventeen, sixteen, fifteen, and fourteen,” Guy answered. Great. They were teenagers on top of it. And one was about to age out. “The two boys may give you some trouble. Didn’t know who else to call.”

“I understand,” Ollie replied and glanced over at Roy and Lian. Was it fair to the toddler to have that many new faces all at once? Especially if they could be potentially problematic?

But if they were problematic, didn’t they need someone like him even more? 

He’d gotten problem children before, and had never had any problems with them. Hell, Roy had been on drugs when Guy had brought him by. And Wally had been convinced Ollie would drop him as soon as he aged out. God, Wally’s surprise when Ollie had paid for him to go to trade school had been so, so worth it.

“You up for it?” Guy pressed. And, well, how could Ollie say no? “I just got the oldest and the girls for tonight.”

“What happened to the other boy?” Ollie asked, though he doubted he wanted to know the answer to that question. Separation was almost never voluntary and was even more rarely a good thing.

“Juvie,” Guy answered.

“Are you kidding me, Gardner?” Ollie demanded. Juvie? “I have a two year old in the house, remember?”

“Look,” Guy continued, cutting Ollie off before he could protest further. Damn him for being good at his job. “They’re good kids coming from a shitty situation. Can you take them? It’s you or a group home.”

Damn him and knowing the magic words. Those kids were doomed if they got sent off to a group home. No one wanted to foster a kid from one of those. “Yeah,” he sighed against his better judgment, even though he knew Dinah would kill him for agreeing to it without talking to her first. “Yeah, send them over.”

“Be there in an hour.”

Ollie groaned when the line went dead and pocketed his phone. 

“Everything okay?” Roy asked, tilting his head to the side, and Ollie nodded. “More kids?” 

Ollie smiled slightly at that. Roy had done so well every time more kids got brought in.  _ I won’t agree to it if you don’t want me to,  _ Ollie had told him right before Mia. Still, he’d been trhilled when Roy had been okay with it.

“How many?”

“Four.”

“Jesus,” Roy blinked.

“Daddy,” Lian glared, and Ollie’s smile widened. Always the swearing police that one was. 

“Sorry, sweetie,” Roy apologized and kissed her on the forehead before turning back to Ollie. “Do we have room for four?”

“Guess we’ll find out,” Ollie ran a hand through his hair. He hadn't even thought about that. They’d have to go bed shopping before the evening was over. Hopefully it would only be a short term deal until they could find somewhere else… Though he doubted it if they were problem kids like Guy said they were.

The knock on the door caught him off guard. Guy had said an hour. It had to have been less than fifteen minutes. “That’s your cue,” Roy hugged Lian close and headed off, leaving Ollie alone in the kitchen.

He took a shaky breath and headed for the door. At least he had the room for more kids. Though God only knew what Mia and Connor were going to think. They had just adjusted to living with him as it was. His palms were sweating and his heart was racing as he turned the doorknob.

Guy stood on the other end, same calm smile every damn CPS worker had on his face. At least on Guy it seemed more genuine. The three kids stood behind him, a girl with short dark hair who looked scared out of her mind, a blonde with her arms crossed, and the oldest, a boy with a… Ollie glanced down to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.

No.

Definitely a boy with an ankle bracelet on.

“Ollie,” Guy smiled and pulled him into a hug, one Ollie reluctantly hugged him back. 

Guy hadn't mentioned two delinquents.  _ I have a fucking kid in the house, Gardner. _

“Good to see you,” Ollie said as he stepped back. “Who’s this?”

“Dick,” Guy nodded toward the boy, and Ollie had to stifle a snort. There was no way that a seventeen year old boy was willingly going by that. “Cass,” he nodded toward the dark-haired girl. “And Steph,” he ended with the blonde. At least the names were going to be easy enough to remember. “Jason’s the other, but he’s still got a week.”

“Nice to meet you.” Ollie extended a hand to Dick and frowned when the boy flinched away. “Uh… come in. Please.”

He stepped aside and watched the brood enter into the house. “It’s a little crowded, but we’ll make it work.” 

Crowded was an understatement, Ollie couldn’t help but think as they all got situated in the living room. “So, uh… Nice to meet you.” The first day and night were always the worst, he’d realized early on. The kids didn’t want to be there and would still be feeling the rest of the house out.

“I’ll leave you to it then,” Guy handed Ollie a familiar stack of paperwork. “You know how to get me if you need me,” he added, and Ollie nodded. He would have offered to walk Guy out, but he didn’t want to leave the three kids alone in a new, probably scary, environment. 

“Good seeing you,” Ollie said and watched as Guy left. He took a deep, even breath. Even with his back turned he could feel the kids staring at him. Slowly, he turned around to face them. “So, uh… I’m Ollie. Guess you three’ll be staying with me for awhile.”

He frowned when he saw the boy moving his hands in a way Ollie had never seen before. Whatever it was, it wasn’t ASL, at least from what little of it Ollie knew. But the dark haired girl was watching Dick intently, and he watched in awe as the girl sent signals right back. “Cass says hey,” the boy spoke.

“Nice to meet you, Cass,” Ollie noded. 

Ollie watched as the two communicated with their hand signals again. If the girl couldn’t talk, the absolute  _ least  _ her former foster family could have done was take her to learn ASL. And learned it himself…  _ Beat the shit out of them,  _ Ollie could hear Guy’s voice echoing in his head. He needed to be patient. There was plenty of time to learn. 

“She wants to know the rules,” Dick glanced over at Ollie, and Ollie wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Ollie had never had to have a formal sit down with the other kids. They’d all just fallen into a routine.

“Uh…” he trailed off, trying to think of something. “Go to school, do your homework, don’t fight with the other kids?”

“How many other kids?” the blonde, Steph, questioned.

“Two. Connor and Mia,” Ollie answered. “And Roy, he’s my oldest. Nineteen. And his daughter Lian, she’s two.” He was beginning to think he was in way over his head, letting that many more kids into the house. Really, what was he thinking? It was going to be a mess. How were he and Dinah going to cook for that big of a crowd?

God, Dinah was going to kill him…

How was he supposed to explain it?  _ How was your day, Prettybird? Oh, hey, I agreed to foster four kids. That’s not a problem, right? Good, because they’re already here.  _ Yeah, that would go over well.

“You all can stay in the bunkroom until I can get something more permanent set up,” Ollie added and headed in that direction. Dinah had thought he was insane for having it built, but he never knew when they were going to get a kid. Or two. Or… well, four.

“Okay,” Dick nodded, and Ollie opened the door to the room, revealing three sets of bunk beds lined up on three of the walls, all made up with untouched sheets and blankets. What was the point in being a billionaire if he couldn’t help people?

“Sweet dreams, kiddos,” he said, leaving the door open behind him as he left,

He hoped to whatever God was out there he hadn't just made a huge mistake.


	2. Let Me Fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is an implied past sexual assault in this chapter (nothing graphic).

**Dick**

The car rides to new homes were always the worst. They were full of questions of whether or not the new home would be better or, like they usually were, worse than the one before it. They brought questions of whether or not the new foster parent had more kids Dick would have to get along with (though honestly nothing could have been worse than Grant and Rose). New families, new houses, new schools, new rules, new ‘siblings.’ It was all old-hat to him by that point.

At least they were keeping some of them together. 

He’d had to fight for it, fight for Cass. She wouldn’t have been able to get on without Dick, at least not get on and thrive. And someone had to protect Jason and Steph, even if Jason had a nasty habit of running his mouth and getting himself into more trouble than it was worth.

Damian had been sent to his mom. Tim had been sent to his dad.

Dick wished that someone would have taken Joey away when he’d left the home two homes before.

At least Bruce had had rules.

“Ollie’s a good guy,” Guy said, and Dick nodded and rested his head on the glass of the passenger side window. It was always a good guy, a good gal, someone who’d never hurt him… Did the powers that be ever actually do the research on the families they said they did?

More often than not, Dick doubted it.

Slade had been a good man on paper. A married veteran with three good kids (really only one good one if you asked Dick).

Bruce had been a good man on paper. A billionaire with a charity foundation that already had a kid of his own.

What was another good man on paper?

And another billionaire at that?

Because they all wanted their little charity cases, didn’t they?

Dick glanced down at the stupid ankle bracelet wrapped around him. Second runaway offense. They wouldn’t have put him on home incarceration, but he’d taken Cass with him. 

_ Mr. Grayson, it is hearby found that you are indeed a juvenile delinquent. You are hearby sentenced to sixty days to be executed on the home incarceration program. All fees are to be paid to the court by... _

Dick got out of the car as soon as they pulled into the driveway. There was no sense in wasting time. Bruce had always been one for instilling timeliness into their heads.  _ I was five minutes late. I'm sorry. _

He felt Cass latch onto his arm, and wrapped a hand around one of hers. No matter what, he had to keep his damn mouth shut this time. He couldn't let anything happen that would separate the two of him. Even if he was going to age out in under six months. Honestly it was a miracle they didn't just drop him in a group home and count down the days until they could kick him out.

The introductions went as they always did. Cass wanted to know the rules (didn't they all? At least rules with Bruce had been consistent. He never knew what to expect from Slade. Sometimes he doubted Slade's own kids knew). Ollie had showed them their temporary rooms while he worked spacing issues out.

At least they all got to stay together for the first night.

"Least Jason gets out soon," Steph said, and Dick nodded even though he wasn't entirely sure that was a good thing. Jason caused problems. He always had. He always would. At least they'd be trapped in whatever hell they'd walked into together.

The call to dinner came too soon, and Dick was honestly surprised Ollie had managed to come up with something for that many extra people. He headed out of the bunk room, making sure the two girls were behind him, and into the dining room.

"Wasn't sure what you liked," Ollie said. "So I ordered pizza."

Dick thanked him and glanced at Cass and Steph, who had both forced smiles of thanks of their own.

"This is Mia and Connor," Ollie added, nodding toward the two other teens, who were already sat and bickering over who got to eat which slice. Great, another home where siblings argued. And they'd walked right into the middle of an argument.

But Ollie wasn't yelling at them.

He was acting almost like it was normal.

Bruce and Slade never would have stood for that kind of behavior under their roofs.

"Roy took Lian to a playdate. Dinah’s working late.  Help yourselves. Eat as much as you want."

Dick sat down only when Ollie did, and watched as Cass slid into the seat next to him. Steph was the first to grab a slice, and Dick and Cass followed after her. "Thanks again," Dick said, keeping his eyes focused on the table. Eye contact had never gone over well before. Why should this time be any different?

He hesitantly started to eat, wishing Ollie would quit looking at him like he was broken. They all did that in the beginning. Well, everyone except for Bruce…  _ Sixteen’s legal. _ He shuddered at the thought and tried to focus on something, on anything else. 

Mercifully they all finished eating soon enough and were permitted to go back to their room. “We’ll go furniture shopping in the morning,” Ollie had promised as they’d left. What was the point? If history was anything to go by, none of them would be in that house that long. So why the hell was Ollie pretending to be nice to them?

Dick led the others back to the bunk room and made sure they all got situated. He'd have to confront Ollie. He knew that. Because if Ollie so much as looked at one of his siblings the wrong way, he'd have Dick to answer to. They'd all gone through enough.

Hell, Jason had gotten himself locked up for defending Steph.

Dick wasn't about to let anything bad happen to any of them ever again.

He waited until the girls were asleep to sneak out of the room. He could hear voices coming from down the hall, one Ollie's, one a woman's. "Four of them, Ollie?" the woman's voice questioned, though she sounded more resigned than she did upset. "Can we handle that many?"

"It'll be fine, Dinah," Ollie's voice responded.

Great. Dinah was an adult then. Dick didn't know why he figured any differently. Maybe it would bring Steph and Cass some comfort, having a female influence in the house. After Adeline, it just made Dick feel sick to his stomach. And he knew that Jason wouldn't do much better with it.

"Dick," Ollie frowned when he turned the corner. "You're up late. Everything okay?"

"Fine," Dick lied, because how the hell was he supposed to have this conversation with Ollie when the woman, Dinah, was just around the corner? He hadn't planned for her to be home or awake when he confronted Ollie.

"You want some water or something?" Ollie asked.

"I said I'm fine," Dick responded more harshly than he'd intended to. But wasn't this how it always started? They were all nice at first. Until they weren't. Bruce had been especially kind to Dick in the beginning.

Now the thought just made him want to throw up.

"Okay," Ollie held his hands up, and Dick instinctively flinched away. He frowned when Ollie immediately lowered them. What the hell game was he trying to play? Part of Dick wished the man would just hit him and get it over with. At least then he wouldn’t be dreading it. “So what’s up?”

“Just… stay away from the others, okay?” Dick demanded, trying to sound braver than he felt. “Do whatever the hell you want to with me, but leave them alone.”

It wouldn’t be the first time he’d been stuck taking the fall to protect someone else. He’d done it for Joey countless times back with Slade. He’d done it for the other kids from Bruce’s enough times to hate himself. The thought that Damian and Joey didn’t have anyone left to look after them made him hate himself even more for snitching.

_ Everything okay at the new home, Dick? _

_ Yeah, he only hits us when we deserve it, so it’s great. _

“Dick, I’d never hurt you,” Ollie began, and Dick shook his head because it was bullshit. It was only a matter of time before one of them sent Ollie over the edge. Dick just hoped it was him and not one of the others. “There’s nothing you can do that would make me even think about it. Hell, Roy used to come in at five AM high and a mess..”

There it was, then. Something had to have been going on with Roy. He was over eighteen and still living there? He had a kid and Ollie hadn't kicked him out? He’d had a drug problem and he was still there? Something was going on. Something had to be going on with them. But if something was going on with Roy and Ollie, maybe that meant that Ollie would leave Dick and the others alone…

“Dick?” Ollie asked, and Dick blinked and looked over at him. “None of us would ever hurt any of you, okay?”   


“Yeah, whatever,” Dick responded. “I should probably get back to bed.”

“Night, kiddo,” Ollie sighed, and Dick headed back to the bunk room without so much as another word.


	3. Or Else the Light

The first night was always the worst. He never knew what to expect from a new kid, let alone three of them. Especially when one had an ankle bracelet on hm. Especially when that kid had also cornered him and threatened him in his own home. Could Ollie blame him, given where he was coming from? Not really.

“What do we even know about these kids?” Dinah asked as she slid into bed next to him. Ollie shook his head and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. The files were open on his lap, and he was thumbing through them with his free hand. 

Richard Grayson. Parents died in a tragic circus accident. Was taken in by relative William Cobb, who died a few years later. Fostered by Slade Wilson for several years until he tried to run away. Fostered by Bruce Wayne ever since. Sexual abuse suspected but never proven. Tried to run away again, alongside Cassandra Cain.

Cassandra Cain. Mother abandoned her. Father unknown. Limited vocal abilities. Seemed to understand spoken word. Runaway charge dismissed when Richard admitted everything was his idea.

Stephanie Brown. Parents died in a tragic accident. Fostered by Bruce Wayne ever since.

Jason Todd. Mother died of a drug overdose. Fostered by Jack Napier and Harleen Quinzel. Beaten nearly to death in their care. Fostered by Talia al Ghul. Sexual abuse believed. Fostered by Roman Sionis. Sexual and physical abuse believed. Fostered by Bruce Wayne...

He shut his eyes and shut the manila folder. It was awful, how their lives could all be summed down into sentences and evaluations. He’d have to have Dinah glance over those. “They seem like good kids,” he turned to look her in the eye.

“I’m not disagreeing,” Dinah curled into his side. “I’m saying we don’t know them. They have problems. I’m not sure we can help them.”

“If we don’t, no one will,” Ollie argued, and he knew it was the truth. No one wanted older kids. No one wanted kids with records. No one wanted kids with issues. And these kids had plenty of those to go around. 

“ I’m not saying we don’t try, Ollie. But,  one of them’s in juvie. Roy won’t want him around Lian.” She was right. And boy did he hate it when she was right. Roy had had a rough path there for awhile. He’d want to keep Lian as far away from any bad influences as he could. 

Ollie just hoped he hadn’t made a terrible mistake in allowing the kids into his home. 

“Then we’ll keep him away from Lian,” Ollie kissed the top of her head and rubbed her arm. “They’re good kids,” he repeated

“You owe me,” Dinah looked him dead in the eye. And Ollie knew she was right. He should have at least called her to make sure it was okay before telling Guy to bring the kids over. It was the least he could have done. But he’d make it up to her. He always did. “Big time. Next time ask before bringing some kids home?”

“I know, I know,” he grinned. “But you know you love me.”

“Someone has to,” Dinah laughed. 

“I’m glad it’s you,” Ollie smiled, leaned in, and kissed her.

It was nice knowing someone had his back.

* * *

It wasn’t until the next morning that Ollie realized just how much paperwork he needed to fill out. He had to get paperwork together for schools, immunization records, birth certificates, guardianship letters… He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep, shaky breath as he spread out the files on the dining room table.

“Everything okay?” Roy asked from the doorway, and Ollie jumped in surprise. Roy had always had a knack for sneaking up on him. He pushed a document to the side and turned to face the younger man.

“Fine,” Ollie said and looked Roy over. For a good while, Ollie had doubted Roy would make it to his early twenties. He was glad the universe proved him wrong. “How’d the playdate go?”

“Fine,” Roy nodded and sat across from him. “How are the new kids?”

“They’re good,” Ollie answered, even though he doubted that was the case. They’d had their lives turned upside down in a matter of seconds. He didn’t doubt they were terrified. He would have been, were the positions reversed. “Haven’t heard anything to suggest otherwise.”

Ollie watched Roy nod and run a shaky hand through his hair. Roy had never been good about hiding his nervous habits. At least Ollie could say with one hundred percent certainty that drugs were no longer the problem. “Can we talk? About them, I mean?”

“Something wrong?” Ollie asked, and he was glad he and Dinah had talked the night before.  _ Roy won’t want him around Lian.  _

“The kid in juvie,” Roy began, and Ollie tilted his head up to show Roy he had his full attention. “I don’t want him near Lian. I don’t want him talking to her. I don’t want him looking at her. Hell, I don’t even want him in the same room as her.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Ollie promised, hoping to God he could keep it. He valued Roy’s opinion and feelings. He wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize Lian’s safety. And having a potentially violent kid in the house definitely fell under the guidelines of potentially jeopardizing Lian’s safety.

“Yeah, you’d better,” Roy crossed his arms, green eyes tearing straight into Ollie’s soul. The kid always knew how to get what he wanted, even back when he was a teenager. “Because I swear to God, Ollie, if I even  _ think  _ he’s going to do something to hurt her, I want him gone. I don’t care what happens to him.”

“I got it, Roy,” Ollie responded in a tone that suggested the discussion was over. Ollie was a man of his word, and he wasn’t going to let that change any time soon. If Jason so much as looked at Lian in the wrong sort of way, Ollie would have to find other arrangements for the boy.

Family had to come first.

He just hoped he hadn't made a massive mistake.

Ollie pulled the files back out and spread them across his desk. And Dinah had always said he’d never use a home office, even if fostering wasn’t exactly what he’d had planned for it. He watched Roy leave from the corner of his eye, leaving the door cracked open behind him.

Roy was a good kid, even if he’d had his rough patches. What kid didn’t? But it had been an absolute pleasure watching the boy grow into the man he’d become. Ollie only hoped he could do the same for the other kids in his care. He could only imagine what they’d gone through, what they were still going through.

He didn’t want to.

A knock on the side of the door jarred him from his thoughts, and he glanced up to see Dinah leaned against the doorframe. He wondered, not for the first time, how she was able to put up with him. He’d been ignoring her lately. He’d be ignoring her a little longer while he got everything situated with the new kids.

He’d make damn sure to make it up to her too.

“You barely slept last night,” she said, voice soft.

Ollie sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You wouldn’t have either if you read their files. Bruce Wayne should never see daylight again if you ask me.”

“I know,” Dinah sighed and crossed the room, sitting on the edge of his desk. How the hell was he supposed to stay focused when she was perched like that? “You can’t save the world, Ollie.”

“I can save these kids.”

“I hope you’re right,” she leaned back and looked up at him. “They need someone like us after everything they’ve gone through.”

“I love you,” he whispered softly. 

“Love you more,” Dinah responded before hopping back down off his desk. “Guy called, by the way. They’re releasing the other boy this afternoon.”

Great. Ollie had thought he’d have time to get everything on that front situated, figure out a way that Jason and Lian would interact as little as possible. Funny how the universe liked to conspire against him. 

“I’ll be there,” he kissed Dinah on her cheek before heading out of the room.

So much for a quiet evening.


	4. Jaded

**Jason**

No one could trust anyone else. That was the first thing Jason could ever remember knowing. He had to look out for himself. No one was going to do it for him, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to do it for anyone else.

At least he’d thought that until Bruce had taken a swing at Steph, and Jason had taken a swing back.

And, well, he should have followed his first rule. Maybe then he wouldn’t have ended up behind bars surrounded by kids way worse than him with far fewer issues, and this entire mess could have been avoided.

He hadn't even managed to give the bastard a black eye.

God knew the bastard deserved that and more.

It had been a damn good thing Dick had been there to hold him back. Jason wasn’t entirely sure what he would have done otherwise.

Jason hoped the others were okay. God only knew what was going on with him out of the house. Dickiebird was probably still warming the bastard’s bed, and Steph and Cass were probably still walking around on eggshells. Jason hoped they were okay. Hell, he even hoped Tim and Damian were okay, and they didn’t even get along on good days. He wasn’t there to soften the blows, quite literally. The bastard was temperamental on good days.

Jason hoped he hadn't had any bad days while Jason had been, well… away. Jason could handle being the ‘family’ punching bag. Bruce would never hit Damian. He wouldn’t do anything to damage Dick’s pretty little face. Tim couldn’t handle taking the brunt of Bruce’s aggression.

And Jason hadn't been there to stop any of it.

He tried to focus on anything but the kids being booked in while he waited for his social worker to show. Some of them were younger than he was. Good luck in the real world once they got out. No one wanted a kid that was in juvie. It was the kiss of death.

He doubted anyone was going to want him after he'd hit Bruce.

He hadn't even left a damn bruise.

And God, the bastard had deserved it...

Jason watched the secure doors open and tried not to roll his eyes when he saw Guy with his stupid fake smile on his face. Because it had to be fake. No one could like dealing with the things he dealt with, problem kids who were at the end of their rope that the system just needed to keep alive long enough to age out. And then what?

Jason didn't want to think about that.

"Jason," Guy smiled, and Jason stifled a groan. How did the social workers always manage to get that condescending tone in their voices? Jason knew they didn't care. No one gave a shit about him. No one ever would. "Don't worry, I'm just here as a formality. Your new foster dad's on his way." Jason blinked in surprise. New foster dad? Must have been an idiot or had a death wish if he was willing to take Jason on. "The others are already home with him. Ollie and Dinah are good people. I think you'll like them."

"Yeah, sure," Jason muttered and stared down at his shoes, beat up sneakers he'd managed to keep Bruce from throwing out. _You'll like them._ Yeah right. He'd like Talia. He'd like Roman. He'd like every damn home he'd been sent to.

At least he'd slept with Talia a handful of times, even if it had felt wrong, even though he wasn't sure he wanted to... _Good luck finding another home,_ she'd told him.

He'd like Jack and Harley, Guy had said. But Jack had beat him within an inch of his life, and Harley had only called an ambulance because he'd been out cold for a solid five minutes. Even the doctors had been amazed he didn't have any permanent damage.

Even the doctors had been surprised he'd lived.

No. He didn't want to think about that.

"They have three kids, Mia, Connor, and Roy. Connor's a little older than you, but I think you'll get along just fine. Roy had some troubles, and Ollie got him set straight, and..." Jason's blood ran cold at that. Set straight? What the fuck had Ollie done to this Roy kid to 'set him straight?' Jason didn't want to think about it.

"I know things are rough right now," Guy continued before rambling off whatever bullshit it was that the Department of Child Services told their social workers to say. They never meant any of it. Jason only pitied the kids who bought it.

They'd all learn their lesson sooner or later.

Trust would get them hurt or killed.

Trust no one, keep their heads down, and don't complain too much.

It was simple, really.

Or at least Jason had thought it would be.

Guy led him outside, and Jason had to blink several times to let his eyes adjust to the harsh sunlight. He'd only been under fluorescent lights for a few days, but it felt like an eternity. It may as well have been an eternity for all the hell he'd endured.

He didn’t belong with the other guys in his pod. That was all he could think the entire damn time he’d been locked up. _What are you in for? Armed robbery. Possession of a handgun. Dealing H._ Jason wasn’t one of them, and they’d sniffed him out a mile away. _What are you in for? Hit my foster dad ‘cause he hit my sister._

Wouldn’t that be one for the therapist Guy was going to insist he see? _It’s good to talk about your feelings, Jason._

_Bull._

_Shit._

Jason watched as a blond man with a beard approached them. Must have been the new foster dad. What had Guy said the name was? Owen? Oscar? Oliver? Oliver. "You must be Jason," the man smiled and extended his hand, and Jason just stared at it. This wasn't some stupid business transaction.

Jason hated everything about Oliver the minute he saw him. Everything about the man from his designer slacks to a watch so expensive Jason could have paid off the gangster who shot his dad with screamed 'entitled prick.'

Another fucking Bruce Wayne, then.

"I'm Ollie. You'll be staying with me. Dinah would've come, but she's keeping an eye on things at home..."

"Yeah, got it," Jason muttered and watched Ollie and Guy exchange a look.

"I'll, uh, leave you two to it then," Guy said, and Jason watched as he left and got in the car Jason had spent entirely too much of his childhood in.

"Ready to head home?" Ollie asked, and Jason just stared at him. Like he had a damn choice in the matter. "I'll take that as a yes," Ollie nodded to himself, and Jason walked past him before climbing into the passenger seat of a car too expensive for Jason to wrap his head around.

Bubbles of laughter threatened to escape his throat, because Guy had really chose a damn winner that time.

It was just going to be Bruce all over again.

And wasn’t that just fan-fucking-tastic?

One bad home to another.

Over and over and over again.

Trust no one.

Keep his head down.

Simple, right?


End file.
